Walk Between Worlds
by Maddison
Summary: Sydney & Nigel head to Canada to help a friend.
1. Default Chapter

*WALK BETWEEN WORLDS*  
  
Part One: True Blue  
  
January 26th, circa 1700 AD  
  
Pachena Bay, Vancouver Island, Canada  
  
It was quiet and clear on a cold mid-winter night, with the exception of tireless ocean waves lapping up onto the beach from the open sea. Mist floated in an ethereal dance between giant cedar and fir that stretched high into a twilight northern sky. The native fishing village of Loht'a, nestled in between the trees and backed against a wide, desolate beach, had just settled down for the night, while two young lovers stole away from the camp under the cover of darkness on the eve of their wedding day.  
  
They were so happy, full of life. Heading away from the beach they climbed high into the trees to their secret place, laughing and dancing about as they playfully chased each other through a ground cover of ferns, fallen trees and moss covered rocks. The young warrior prince helped his princess up over gentle steppes leading to the cave where they first announced their love to the Spirits of the land, sea and sky. Once inside he built a small fire and they settled down before it, facing each other in a personal ritual of love and commitment. Watching intently as he lay out a leather bag and gently unfurled its layers she dared not even breathe. Looking up to her with a smile, the young warrior finally unveiled his promise of unyielding love for her. Carefully, he picked up the hand-made necklace, fashioned from whale bone and deer hide, with small colourful polished beads made from stones and exotic shells intricately woven into the braid. In the very centre he had placed a very large, salt water pearl. As soon as it was laid about her slender neck, the ground began to shake.  
  
Down in the village there was no time to get to a canoe, no time to wake the tribe... People screamed from their beds, the earth moving so violently and for so long that they could not even stand. Many became sick from the powerful tremors erupting beneath them. The ground sank in an instant. Everyone in the village drowned from the onslaught of water that careened down. Up in the cave with rocks and sand falling around them the young princess cried out, tripping up every few steps as her betrothed dragged her back to the entrance, and freedom. Clinging to one another with only a mere few steps to go he fell, trapped by debris raining down. With one last effort he managed to shove her free of the cave's mouth and out of death's grasp... It was too late for her prince. At that moment the cave walls closed in and buried him forever.  
  
There was no time to grieve, she had to escape this unrelenting wall of death. Desperately she clawed her way to higher ground, tripping up and dragging herself to her feet every few steps... With tears in her eyes and terror in her heart, she finally broke through the dense brush and looked back at what had once been. Nothing was left... only death and destruction. She had never been happier that night, and never more profoundly sad. Her family, friends, her entire life ripped away from her in that one moment of time, before history was written in this land. All she had left was the necklace. Tightly clutching onto the ornately decorated talisman strung about her neck, she carefully lifted its braided leather cord over her head and held it to her heart for the last time... 


	2. An Invitation

Walk Between Worlds 2  
  
Chapter Two: An Invitation  
  
December 17th, Present Day  
  
Ancient Studies Office  
  
"I cannot believe it!" Nigel Bailey exclaimed, and pulled his wire-rimmed reading glasses from his nose, frantically waving his boss over to have a look. "I've been invited, along with a guest to a fishing resort up on Vancouver Island in the merry old commonwealth of Canada!"  
  
"Be careful what you call a commonwealth Nigel, they aren't a British colony anymore. " Professor Sydney Fox playfully warned with a twisted grin, and made no effort to remove herself from the latest archaeological journal she was reading. "You might start a war with the Canadians..."  
  
"Right-o." He replied with half a laugh, skimming the rest of the note.  
  
"So, who sent the invitation? I didn't know you had friends in Canada."  
  
"Cameron Waters, one of my old Oxford buds." The little Englishman explained with a regretful sigh... "After we graduated she went back to British Columbia to run the family business. I was a tad upset to see the lady leave, but she had her life and I had mine. Two different worlds, so to speak." Sitting up straight he continued on reading, the tone of his soft voice perking up suddenly. "Hey, listen to this... it says she found what she believes is an old burial ground of some sort! Apparently she's been exploring the area in and around a place called Pachena Bay on Vancouver Island. Three centuries ago a small aboriginal fishing village with a population of about one hundred people lived there. Loht'a. " He continued to skim down the letter in an excitable, hasty fashion. "Oh! Here, it says she found what she believes might be an authentic Coast Salish artefact from that very village!" He looked over to Sydney who had now stopped what she was doing. "Considering everyone was apparently wiped out in a killer earthquake and the tidal wave that followed, it's an absolutely amazing find! From what I know about that region, only the geologists uncover what they're looking for."  
  
"Rocks, dirt and sand? That does sound interesting. Does it say if anyone else is exploring this site with her?"  
  
"No, just Cam and her fiance Mark. Apparently they found what looks like a wedding necklace, but thinks the relic may be incomplete, with a second piece to it that's still missing. They combed the area but she came up empty handed." Nigel glanced up from the letter, and tilting his head playfully to one side a lock of light brown hair fell across his curious brow. He could see the wheels turning madly behind Sydney's dark animated eyes. "I'm positive a find of that nature would mean a great deal to Cam and her family, not to mention the historic society on the Island. Are you thinking what I'm thinking, guest?"  
  
"Karen! Book us on the first flight to Vancouver, Canada!" Sydney called out. * * *  
  
It was not as long a flight as they usually endured in the past, and Nigel had insisted on a window seat much to Sydney's surprise. She couldn't help but notice the melancholy in her teaching assistant's demeanour the closer to Vancouver they got. There was definitely something about Cameron Waters that Nigel wasn't admitting to. Not yet, anyway. He had never mentioned this woman in the two years she had worked with him, but then, he had a habit of keeping his private life just that... private.  
  
Nigel had taken the letter out several times during the trip, reading it again and again, handling it as if it were the Dead Sea scrolls, too precious for words. Not being one to beat around the bush and terribly impatient at times, Sydney finally decided to come right out and ask. "Did you and this woman have some sort of dangerous liaison?"  
  
Slightly embarrassed at the teasing tone in her voice, he quietly acknowledged the question with a small grunt. Fumbling with the letter briefly, he neatly folded it up into a small square, tucking it neatly inside his breast pocket. He couldn't look at her, or rather, wouldn't. "Nonsense!"  
  
Sydney's beautiful face lit up like a starburst. He started to wring his hands together nervously and a tattletale redness began to creep hotly up along his neck and ears, he looked so caught. Paydirt, Sydney thought. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned towards him, getting right into his personal space. "Nigel Bailey, you are lying!"  
  
"No, no I'm not. Syd, please, not so loud..." In temperate panic, his eyes darted around them to see if anyone else could hear their conversation. His voice was slowly changing from that confidently quiet English lyric of his, into an annoying squeak as it always did when faced with any sort of unpleasantness. "She was just a very good friend. Honest!" Lifting his hazel eyes up to her suspicious, coffee-coloured gaze, he swallowed hard. "Would I lie to you?"  
  
"Yes!" Sydney realised a little too late that ribbing her young assistant over this secret affair probably wasn't the best way of getting him to open up. A different approach was needed here if she was going to coax him into giving her anything. "Oh come on... so what, you had a relationship with a fellow student. What's the big deal in that? I've had a few relationships that didn't work out too, you know." She sympathised, challenging him to come up with one good reason for hiding it. Watching as he squirmed in his seat, she wondered why any woman in her right mind would send a guy like Nigel packing... He was kind and sweet to a fault, he was far more intelligent than almost all of the other bull-brained men she knew, and forever the perfect gentleman. If Nigel were hers she would certainly appreciate him. But she had no claims on him, nor should she... Sydney wanted to slap herself for even thinking it.  
  
"Well, no big deal, I suppose." Nigel relented and drew in a deep, defeated breath. Syd was going to make him talk about this weather he wanted to or not.  
  
"Nigel, what was in the letter that has you so bothered? This isn't like you at all! Spit it out, already."  
  
Without saying anything he plucked Cameron's letter from his pocket, turned to the page that upset him the most and handed it to her. Sydney took it and started to read:  
  
... So much has happened in the years since we last saw each other. I remember thinking a guy like you would probably excel so quickly you'd leave us all behind in the dust, and from what I'm hearing about you, it's true! Sometimes I even think about that night we spent together in London. I have missed you, and I can only imagine how exciting things must be for you these days! It must be so much fun to globe trot around the world with a famous relic hunter and explorer like Professor Fox. Not much with me, unfortunately. Although I DID find a really nice guy, and we're getting married next summer. Of course you and Ms. Fox are invited to the wedding! Speaking of weddings, when are you going to find yourself a nice girl and settle down? I know, I know. I sound like a nagging old hen, but I want you to have all the happiness I do. If anyone deserves a great shot at love and life Nigel Bailey, it's you...  
  
"I don't quite understand why this distresses you so much..." Sydney turned to her young disgruntled assistant, puzzled. "She sounds really happy, and from what I read here, she wants the same for you."  
  
"Syd, I haven't corresponded with her in years. I feel somewhat guilty, that's all..."  
  
"I don't think that's the problem."  
  
He was busted. Time to confess, he thought. She caught his gaze, ensnaring him there and daring him to tell the truth. Sydney had become his very best friend. He knew and trusted her beyond comprehension, and could probably tell her anything... well, almost anything. "It's not, you're right. I just feel like a failure where some of life's lessons are concerned sometimes. I have no idea how else to explain it." He skirted a hand through his mop of tawny hair in mild frustration. "Socially I feel like a bafoon," he conceded with a half-hearted whine, waving his hands all around in a great display of confused emotion, "I can never hang onto anyone decent for more than a few weeks at a time. Look at how successful in love Cameron's been since we parted ways. Good Lord, even Preston's got himself a nice girl..." He looked into Sydney's dark, understanding eyes, lingering just a little. "Why do I always have such a problem with women Syd?"  
  
"You, a failure? I don't think so!" She wanted to tell him he was deluding himself. The way half the female population at the university fawned all over him was testament to that. Surely he would have noticed all the attention. "So you're upset that your ex-girlfriend is getting married and you're not?"  
  
"Well... yes!"  
  
"Sounds more like jealousy to me." Sydney shook her head and stifled a small laugh. "Nigel... this is crazy. The only places I could possibly see you having a problem with women are how you can possibly keep them all organised in your day planner! You could pick and choose a different woman every day of the week if you wanted to. My God Nigel, you're charming, smart, funny and I DO hate to say it, but... damn adorable too. I cannot believe you're making me tell you the obvious!" She really believed those things, grateful he didn't know just how attractive she thought he was. He'd been her shadow and companion for so long now, sometimes when they were working feverishly on a project one couldn't tell where Sydney ended, and Nigel began.  
  
"You, you think I'm over-reacting." He didn't want to reveal which particular raven haired beauty he was so unsuccessful with, not that he had ever admitted to having any kind of feelings but friendship for her.  
  
"No, you aren't over-reacting, you're just forgetting that you have a lot to offer. You have to learn to focus on what's good about yourself and stop obsessing on those less than desirable traits." She nudged his arm. "The right person will drop into your lap one day, and when she does she'll thank her lucky stars."  
  
Pursing his lips together he sighed, happily reconciling to drop the subject and get on with more important things. She was right. He was sounding more like a big baby than a grown man.  
  
"Thanks Syd, you're a true friend."  
  
"True blue! Now, don't let that bother you anymore ok? Remember that we're on the hunt again! I thought you English guys loved the thrill of the hunt? What was it they called out to the hounds?"  
  
"Tally-ho, and all that rot!"  
  
"Now that's more like the Nigel Bailey I've come to know and love." Sydney thoughtfully smiled back at him.  
  
Love? Nigel blinked the word back in disbelief, quickly reminding himself she didn't actually mean 'love' in THAT sense of the word.  
  
Sydney placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and lightly squeezed, letting him know she understood where he was coming from before finally turning back to the business at hand. "It says here that we'll have to get a ferry from the mainland then drive through the mountains."  
  
"That's correct, on both counts." He confirmed, trying to shake away these largely inappropriate thoughts of his boss.  
  
To be continued... 


End file.
